Roasting Rack and Carving Board System

ABSTRACT

A roasting rack and carving board system includes a roasting rack having a number of spaced support members that support a food item. The system also includes a carving board that has a body with a cutting surface. The body and cutting surface features a number of grooves that receive the spaced support members of the roasting rack so that at least portions of some of the plurality of spaced support members are recessed into the carving board body with respect to the cutting surface.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser.No. 16/567,696, filed Sep. 11, 2019, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/729,559, filed Sep. 11, 2018, theentire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to food preparation devicesand, in particular, to a roasting rack and carving board system.

BACKGROUND

Meat in the form of roasts or poultry and the like is typically cookedin an oven or on a grill and must be carved for serving. As a result,the cooked food item is typically moved to a carving board. Transferringthe food item from a roasting pan directly onto a carving board is oftencumbersome and can get messy. Roasting racks that have handles and areremovable from the roasting pan, so that the food item may be carried onthe rack to a carving board, are known. When such racks, which aretypically made of steel wire, are positioned on the carving board,however, the carving knife may contact the rack and dull and/or damagethe carving knife blade cutting edge.

SUMMARY

There are several aspects of the present subject matter which may beembodied separately or together in the devices and systems described andclaimed below. These aspects may be employed alone or in combinationwith other aspects of the subject matter described herein, and thedescription of these aspects together is not intended to preclude theuse of these aspects separately or the claiming of such aspectsseparately or in different combinations as set forth in the claimsappended hereto.

In one aspect, a roasting rack and carving board system includes aroasting rack having a number of spaced support members configured tosupport a food item. The system also includes a carving board having abody with a cutting surface. The body and cutting surface featuregrooves configured to removably receive the spaced support members ofthe roasting rack so that at least portions of some of the spacedsupport members are recessed into the carving board body with respect tothe cutting surface.

In another aspect, a method of preparing a food item includes the stepsof positioning the food item on a rack including spaced support members;positioning the rack in or on a cooking device; cooking the food itemusing the cooking device while the food item is positioned on the rack;removing the rack with the food item positioned thereon from the cookingdevice; transferring the rack with the food item positioned thereon to acutting board featuring grooves and inserting the spaced support membersof the rack into the grooves of the cutting board so that the spacedsupport members are recessed with respect to a cutting surface of thecutting board and the food item rests on the cutting surface of thecutting board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a top plan view of a roasting rack in an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the roasting rack of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is a side elevational view of the roasting rack of FIGS. 1A and1B;

FIG. 1D is an end elevational view of the roasting rack of FIGS. 1A-1C;

FIG. 2A is a top plan view of a carving board in an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the carving board of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a side elevational view of the carving board of FIGS. 2A and2B;

FIG. 2D is an end elevational view of the carving board of FIGS. 2A-2C;

FIGS. 3A-3E illustrate use of an embodiment of the roasting rack andcarving board system of the disclosure that includes the roasting rackof FIGS. 1A-1D and the carving board of FIGS. 2A-2D;

FIGS. 4A-4C are cross sectional views corresponding to FIGS. 3B-3D takenalong line 4-4 of FIG. 3D.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of a roasting rack of the disclosure is indicated ingeneral at 10 in FIGS. 1A-1D. While the embodiment of the roasting rackillustrated in the figures and described below is made of stainlesssteel wire, alternative materials and configurations of the componentsmay be used.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D, the rack features a peripheral member 12upon which are pivotally positioned U-shaped handles 14 a and 14 b. Anumber of support members 16 are attached to and extend between opposingportions of the peripheral member in a spaced fashion. Feet 18 may beformed in the support members to support the rack on a surface, such asa counter or the bottom of a roasting pan. The peripheral member 12,handles 14 a and 14 b and support members 16 may be constructed of, asan example only, stainless steel wire.

An embodiment of the carving board of the disclosure is indicated ingeneral at 20 in FIGS. 2A-2D. The carving board includes a body 22having a cutting surface 24 positioned on top. The cutting surface maybe part of, and integrally formed with, the body, or it may be formed asa separate piece that is attached to the body. As best illustrated inFIG. 2B, the cutting surface and body are provided with grooves 26 that,as explained in greater detail below, receive the peripheral member 12and spaced support members 16 of the rack of FIGS. 1A-1D. In addition,the cutting surface and body features handle recesses 28 a and 28 b thatare configured to receive the pivoting handles 14 a and 14 b of the rackof FIGS. 1A-1D.

The carving board may include handle cutouts at each end, one of whichis illustrated at 27 in FIG. 2B, to facilitate carrying of the carvingboard when food items or scraps are positioned thereon. A continuoussidewall, illustrated at 29 in FIG. 2B, may also be provided around thecutting surface 24 to prevent liquid from dripping.

The carving board, as examples only, may be constructed from wood ormolded plastic.

An example of use of a roasting rack and carving board system thatincludes the roasting rack 10 of FIGS. 1A-1D and the carving board 20 ofFIGS. 2A-2D will now be described with respect to FIGS. 3A-3E and FIGS.4A-4C.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, a food item 32, illustrated as a turkey orchicken as an example, is positioned on the support members 16 of theroasting rack, which is positioned within a roasting pan 34. The fooditem is roasted in an oven.

When roasting is completed, a user grasps the handles 14 a and 14 b ofthe roasting rack, lifts the rack out of the roasting pan 34 and carriesthe food item on the rack to the carving board 20, as illustrated inFIG. 3B.

As illustrated in FIG. 3C, the user then lowers the roasting rack thatholds the meat so that the rack peripheral member 12 and support members16 enter the grooves 26 of the carving board. The grooves 26 of thecarving board are preferably sized so that the support members 16 andperipheral member 12 of the rack are recessed within the carving boardso as to be below the cutting surface 24 of the carving board. This isalso shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 3D and 4B, the handles 14 a and 14 b arepivoted from a carrying position, illustrated in FIGS. 3B, 3C, 4A and4B, down into a carving position, illustrated in FIGS. 3D, 3E and 4C,where they enter the handle recesses 28 a and 28 b of the carving board.This pivoting is illustrated by arrows 36 a and 36 b of FIG. 4B. As aresult, only the meat sits on top of the cutting surface of the cuttingboard, so that when the user carves the food item 32, as illustrated inFIG. 3E, the cutting edge 42 of the knife is not dulled or damaged.Furthermore, as a result, the meat is first roasted on the rack and thenelevated when resting on the board. In addition to receiving the wires12 and 16 of the roasting rack, the grooves 26 allow drippings to drainaway, keeping the skin of the food item crisp. In an alternativeembodiment, dedicated idents formed in the cutting surface (that do notreceive the wire support members of the rack) may be provided to receivedrippings.

While the preferred embodiments of the disclosure have been shown anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changesand modifications may be made therein without departing from the spiritof the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of preparing a food item comprising thesteps of: a. positioning the food item on a rack including spacedsupport members; b. positioning the rack in or on a cooking device; c.cooking the food item using the cooking device while the food item ispositioned on the rack; d. removing the rack with the food itempositioned thereon from the cooking device; e. transferring the rackwith the food item positioned thereon to a cutting board featuringgrooves; f. inserting the spaced support members of the rack into thegrooves of the cutting board so that the spaced support members arerecessed with respect to a cutting surface of the cutting board and thefood item rests on the cutting surface of the cutting board.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising the step of carving the food item.3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of positioning therack within a roasting pan during or prior to step b.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein step d. includes carrying the rack using handlespositioned on the rack.
 5. The method of claim 4 further comprising thestep of pivoting the handles into corresponding grooves in the cuttingboard.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the food item is meat.
 7. Themethod of claim 6 wherein the food item is poultry.